She was looking up. It was snowing. Despite knowing it should feel cold, she was warm. It was probably due to the fact that the building he inhabited was on fire.

The smoke was so intense that she did not breathe anymore.

A single drop of water fell on her face. She did not blink.

Was it raining? No, that's impossible… then why did more droplets keep falling on her?

It was then she realized. She could not feel her body. She could not blink. Not even hear. She could just look at the sky, and feel as her dry eyes burned in the cold.

The last thing she felt was someone combing his hair and wiping the scarlet liquid from his skin.

Her ruptured eardrums could miraculously hear something. The wails of… somebody.

…

Someone was sobbing for her…

"H-Hold on! Just a-just a little further!"

He panted, holding on to her as strong as his meek body allowed. "I… I can't… too… weak…"

Unlike his hoarse voice, hers was much more vigorous. "Come on! We're almost there!"

FWOOOSH. Something hit her, so fast it sent them both flying.

He felt his hand slip from hers. And in the middle of the cacophony of colors, they were separated once more.

The last thing he saw was a blinding combination of lights assaulting his eyes.

"Waaaaaaaah!"

"At last. I have found you."

…?

He felt like he just woke from a slumber, but his entire self was paralyzed. As if his consciousness was trapped in a tomb.

"Fear not. I mean you no harm. Your inquisitive little mind must have so many questions."

The voice was calm and gentle, yet it was authoritative and intense. It was neither male nor female. It was as if every possible voice mixed into one, perfectly blended.

That was not possible. Such a perfect blend could not be done, even with the aid of technology. It defied the very-

"Hahahah…"

The voice's sudden laugh sent a jolt through his entire amorphous being, interrupting his thoughts.

"Even now, you focus on deciphering my voice, instead of looking inward."

He tried to retort, tried to question it, tried to use his usual tactics, but he had no voice, no mouth.

And once he realized his surroundings, he understood that he had no being.

This entire place was like water. But instead it had all colors he could possibly think of, and some he could not.

That was… fascinating. And dreadful. He felt excited and fearful, in equal measure.

Still! He would not let this… bad trip distract him from his apparent captor. He wanted to understand what was going on.

"Please, answer the following questions with an open mind, and then you will have the answers you seek."

"How can I answer if I can't tal-" He gasped once he realized he somehow had a voice, and only a voice. "-the hell!?"

"There. Better."

"I will not answer anything, unless you tell me what is the meaning of this!"

"I could silence you again." The voice said, half-jokingly. "And leave you all alone, to your existential thoughts."

"... What was the question again?"

"Let us start with something simple. What traits would you consider most important in a friend or partner?"

"I guess… loyalty. Intelligence. Integrity. Confidence. Traits I believe I have in spades."

"How humble. Since you are so great, how about something more complicated." He could swear he felt the formless voice was eye-rolling at him, somehow. "What is your opinion on the concept of good and evil?"

'Ah great. Now I'm stuck doing a lousy pseudo-philosophical personality quiz.'

"I can hear your thoughts too, you know." He could swear he felt a single hint of annoyance in its otherwise serene tone.

"Uhhh… I meant to say, uh." He quickly tried not to anger whatever that thing was and just play along, "I don't care about it? At least not how others do. I am more goal-oriented, I try to do what I think is best, and what I perceive is the best course of action, and that's that."

"So you don't consider yourself a good person?"

"I wouldn't say that. I certainly try to do good. I just don't spend too much time pondering and obsessing about it, as others do."

"I see. Let's go back to something more simple. Do you consider yourself a funny person?"

"No. I am the antithesis of funny." He tried to hide how bored these questions are already making him feel.

"If your two best friends were in a nasty fight, how would you handle it?"

"Tell them to stop being idiots."

"Is it ever worth getting revenge?"

"Sure? I don't like saying 'never' to anything, I am sure there are extreme situations where it is justifiable. I just don't see myself obsessing over something or someone so much."

"So you don't believe you would ever get attached to someone so much you would get revenge on someone that wronged them?"

"... I never said that. Maybe I would, maybe not."

"Be honest."

"Fine, fine. I… think I would. It's stupid, but if someone hurts someone I care about a whole lot… then yes, I'd do things I'd maybe regret."

He didn't notice, but the whirl of colors around him were becoming less chaotic, leaving only a few colors with each question he answered.

"If someone stole a loaf of bread to feed their family, do they deserve to be punished?"

"Yes. They committed a crime. Justified or not, we cannot simply forgive every crime arbitrarily."

The harsh answer left the voice quiet for a moment, but it soon continued, not changing its tone. "Would you ever lie?"

"Never. The truth should be spoken, regardless of consequence."

"I see. Last question."

He sighed in relief. 'Finally.'

His senses were once more assaulted, once more, the entirety of this strange dimension started to collapse, the few colors that were left spun in a typhoon around his limited point of view. He could swear he heard a pained sound coming from the ethereal voice.

"What is going on? I've answered enough questions! I want an explanation, now!"

"Ah. Apologies… our time runs short. I wish I could provide more, but as my last blessing… let me ask you…"

It all started to crack, he lost the ability to speak once more, not because the voice took it away from him, but because he began feeling excruciating pain all over.

"If you could have something, anything, what would it be…?"

He could not speak, but he answered the question to himself.

It seemed to satisfy the voice.

The pain in both of them only increased, it escalated from a headache to a concussion.

"You appear to be… the cynic type. So very mirthless, you refuse to believe the world is a good place, and find it hard to get pleasure from the simple things, often (and accurately) pointing out every flaw in everything. Your mind is keen and your logic is sharp, perhaps to protect your waning emotions."

Despite knowing he shouldn't care about the voice's words.

But he did care, to some extent. He felt… not happy at the result.

"Yet. Your aura…" For a moment, the water-like space that surrounded them became monocolored. An intense blue now painted everything.

"Pink…!" It gasped, "I knew it…! Your mind and heart disagree."

"Pink is the color of love, and kidness. It represents empathy, compassion and desires love and understanding. Innocent and pure, It is exceedingly rare! To think someone with a personality so bleak would have the-"

Once more, pain interrupted them both, now the entire place started to crack, crumbling down like a castle of glass. "Curses…"

He finally felt something, his body. He was feeling his body properly for the first time.

"Your heart is pure… yet deeply wounded. But perhaps that is a strength."

"This is all nonsense. Look just-"

"I… have faith in you. You have not given up. Not yet."

And finally, it all shattered.

"Welcome, mirthless soul, to the world of pokémon!"

Deep in a thick, lush forest, with gargantuan-sized trees a pokémon laid on the ground, letting out meek, pained breaths. Their eyes were glowing brightly. Without any energy left, they returned to normal.

"A-ha! There you are." A playful voice echoed from in between the oversized trees. "For a legendary pokémon, you are quite craven, Celebi!"

From amongst the vivid trees, another pokémon made her presence known, a zoroark with a purple mane, wearing a similarly colored multi-layered bow tie.

She slowly approached the grievously injured Celebi, with energetic steps. "Now. Where were we? Ah yes! About my-"

"I know where he is." Celebi said, in between bloody coughs.

"See! Had you been that cooperative from the start, you'd have saved much of your lung capacity!" She giggled, sitting next to the grass-type. "Now. Where is he?"

"Here." He blurted out.

"Why yes. He should be around this dungeon if he is lost in time and space." She thrusted a claw in his belly, twisting it. "I was hoping you'd be more specific!"

The grass-type legendary did not have the energy to shriek anymore, simply cringing from the pain. But instead of giving in and amusing the villainess, he mustered the energy to speak once more. "He is here. In our world. Far, far away. As one of us. I got to him first."

Her smug expression soon turned into a wrathful one. "You… WHAT!?"

"We won." It was Celebi's turn to smirk.

The zoroark's wrath was so intense the sclera of her yellow eyes shone red, and a dark, flare-like aura of darkness surrounded her whole body.

"You lost."

BAM.

A single, spiteful Night Daze was all it took to silence the small creature.

"Mistress!" A gang of pokémon approached her from behind, all wearing masks and purple scarves. Their leader, a Golduck, bent the knee as soon as she was in sight. "The area is clear. No sign of any other legendaries."

She ignores her underling's words for a moment, the silence making him worry. But soon, the rancorous aura that surrounded her vanished, leaving her only with a scowl. "The treasure is not here. Let us move."

With a flick of her wrist, she drained the green from Celebi, leaving only a shriveled husk where he once was.

For a second, her eyes glowed green. She felt the legendary's energy flowing through her.

A gasp caught her attention, it was from one of her minions. The lush forest was falling down and crumbling apart, large trees crushing everything underneath, as the green became gray, and life became dust.

Golduck extended his webbed hands, using his psychic energy to try and save them from getting crushed. But it was too much even for him.

"AAAH!" Another underling shouted as they were seconds away from being buried. Golduck gasped and closed his eyes.

And once he opened them, they were in a very colorful, very not-angry and very normal forest.

Golduck and the minions opened their eyes, to reveal their boss looking at the horizon, her mane flowing with the wind, the morning sun shining down on her fur. All of them were bruised, but safe.

"Cheeky Celebi… so that's how you beat me to it." She sighed, unable to contain herself from smirking, looking at her paw, glowing a gentle green hue. "Time stop. This will serve me well."

"M-Mistress." The Golduck gulped, eyes almost watering. "Y-You…"

"Prolonged your usefulness, yes." She said, without turning around, "now actually make yourself useful and contact our agents in other continents. Look for reports of strange pokémon. Preferably from local guilds, that is usually where they end up at."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Golduck and the others all shouted in unison, immediately leaving her be.

She kept looking towards the great beyond, her smirk ever-present. "Pokémon, human… I will find you regardless."